[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 6 (Monday, January 13, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H104-H105]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION REAL ESTATE LEASING AUTHORITY
REVOCATION ACT
Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 189) to amend title 40, United States Code, to eliminate the
leasing authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and for
other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 189
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Securities and Exchange
Commission Real Estate Leasing Authority Revocation Act''.
SEC. 2. LEASING OF SPACE FOR SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION.
(a) In General.--Section 3304 of title 40, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(e) Leasing of Space for Securities and Exchange
Commission.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, on
and after the date of enactment of this subsection, the
Securities and Exchange Commission may not lease general
purpose office space. The Administrator may lease such space
for the Securities and Exchange Commission under section 585
and this chapter.''.
(b) Limitation on Statutory Construction.--The amendment
made by subsection (a) may not be construed to invalidate or
otherwise affect a lease entered into by the Securities and
Exchange Commission before the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. INDEPENDENT LEASING AUTHORITIES.
(a) In General.--The Comptroller General of the United
States shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, the Committee
on Environment and Public Works of the Senate, and the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of
the Senate a report on the review described in subsection
(b).
(b) Review.--The Comptroller General shall complete a
review under which the Comptroller General shall update the
2016 report of the Comptroller General (GAO-16-648) with a
specific focus on the following:
(1) Updating the information included in Appendix II:
Federal Entities That Reported Having Independent Leasing
Authority for Domestic Offices and Warehouses of such report.
(2) Determining to what extent Federal entities with
independent leasing authorities have had such authorities
rescinded or amended and the number and amount of office and
warehouse space such entities lease.
(3) Determining to what extent have agencies with
independent leasing authority utilized the General Services
Administration for leasing, including utilization of
delegation of authority.
(4) Identifying progress made on implementing the
recommendations in such report.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Missouri (Mr. Graves) and the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Hoyle) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri.
General Leave
Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material in the Record on H.R. 189.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Missouri?
There was no objection.
Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, in 2012, the Securities and Exchange Commission violated
Federal law by signing a lease for 1.4 million square feet that cost
taxpayers over $566 million.
Investigations conducted by the Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee, as well as SEC's inspector general, found that the SEC had
exceeded its authority with this lease. Investigations also found that
the SEC had a history of mismanaging its leasing authority.
Recent actions taken by the SEC seem to indicate that the agency has
not learned from the past. This is why I urge support of H.R. 189,
which would revoke the SEC's leasing authority for general office space
and bring them in line with current leasing practices through the
General Services Administration.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the bill, and I reserve the balance
of my time.
{time} 1700
Ms. HOYLE of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 189, the Securities and
Exchange Commission Real Estate Leasing Authority Revocation Act.
This bill revokes the independent real estate leasing authority of
the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. Congress granted the
SEC independent leasing authority in 1990, which means the SEC does not
use the GSA, the General Services Administration, for its real estate
needs, as many government agencies do.
While some Federal agencies have used their independent real estate
leasing authority successfully, since securing their own authority, the
SEC has wasted time and taxpayer dollars with failed procurements.
For example, in 2010, after the SEC leased 900,000 square feet of
space in the Constitution Center building in Washington, D.C., the
SEC's own inspector general found that the SEC had overestimated the
amount of space needed, attempted to eliminate competition among
building owners, and violated the Antideficiency Act.
After this incident, the SEC pledged to Congress that the agency
would use the GSA to handle its real estate procurements, but the SEC
has yet to follow through on that pledge and has since canceled
procurements, had lawsuits, and wasted taxpayer dollars.
Congresswoman Norton introduced an identical bill during the 118th
Congress. That bill, H.R. 388, passed both the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure and the House of Representatives on
voice votes. Unfortunately, H.R. 388 was not even considered by the
Senate.
It is time for Congress to return the SEC's leasing authority to the
GSA, the Federal Government's civilian real estate arm.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve
the balance of my time.
Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. HOYLE of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill, which
the House passed in the 117th and 118th Congresses. I thank Chairman
Graves and Ranking Member Larsen for bringing this bill to the floor
again.
This bill would revoke the independent real estate leasing authority
of the Securities and Exchange Commission and direct the Government
Accountability Office to update its 2016 report on independent real
estate leasing authority in the Federal Government.
While a number of Federal agencies have independent real estate
leasing authority, the SEC has a history of egregious real estate
leasing practices. In 2005, the SEC disclosed that it had underbudgeted
costs of approximately $48 million for the construction of its
headquarters near Union Station.
In 2007, after moving into its headquarters, the SEC shuffled its
employees to different office space at a cost of over $3 million
without any cost-benefit analysis or justifiable explanation.
In 2010, the SEC conducted a deeply flawed analysis to justify the
need to lease 900,000 square feet and to commit over $500 million over
10 years, overestimating its space needs by over 300 percent.
In addition, the SEC failed to provide complete and accurate
information and
[[Page H105]]
prepared a faulty and backdated justification and approval after it had
already signed the lease.
In August 2016, the General Services Administration and the SEC
entered into an occupancy agreement to authorize GSA to secure a new
15-year lease. In December 2016, GSA, with the approval of the SEC,
submitted a prospectus to Congress for approximately 1.3 million square
feet, which Congress approved in 2018.
In 2019, GSA had received final bids, resolved all protests, and even
selected a final bidder. A month later, the SEC canceled the occupancy
agreement, citing concerns about the value of the purchase option,
which the SEC refused to document to Congress.
The SEC effectively vetoed the entire 3-year procurement process
despite not having the authority or funding to exercise the purchase
option without GSA's involvement.
Finally, after much back and forth between the two agencies, GSA
entered into a lease for a new SEC headquarters in September 2021,
which GSA terminated in October 2024.
While the SEC has said it will continue to have GSA do its leasing in
the future, the SEC's history of egregious leasing conduct, squandering
hundreds of millions of dollars, makes this bill necessary.
The SEC's conduct risks undermining the reputation of GSA and the
Federal Government among developers and building owners who participate
in Federal lease procurements. The threat of uncertainty ultimately
drives up the cost of all GSA real estate procurements.
It is time for Congress to return the SEC's leasing authority to GSA,
the Federal Government's civilian real estate arm. As the SEC has
demonstrated over three decades, it is incredibly inefficient,
wasteful, and redundant to have the SEC do real estate procurements
when GSA exists for that very reason.
Like other Federal agencies, the SEC will continue to have input into
GSA's real estate decisionmaking process, but GSA would have the
ultimate authority.
Again, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. HOYLE of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, since securing its own real estate
leasing authority, the SEC has wasted time and money with failed
procurements. It is past time for the SEC to cede that authority back
to the GSA.
My colleague, Congresswoman Holmes Norton, has explained this very
thoroughly and clearly.
Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 189, and I urge my colleagues to do the
same. I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to
close.
Mr. Speaker, by ensuring that the SEC continues to use GSA for its
space needs, H.R. 189 is going to help reduce costs and protect
taxpayers against wasteful spending.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia
(Ms. Norton) for her work on this bill. The legislation was agreed to
in the House last Congress under suspension of the rules, so I look
forward to seeing that happen again.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support of the bill, and I yield back the balance
of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 189.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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